Your Romeo, My Juliet
by V. Shalyr
Summary: Shin Makoku is finally at peace and Yuuri returns to Earth to finish high school, taking Wolfram with him with plans to finally take charge of their relationship. But when the drama club recruits Yuuri for their next play, of course the only words Wolf hears are "girl asked" and "yes". What's a Maoh to do to prove his love? YuuRam
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kyo Kara Maoh.

**Summary**: Shin Makoku is finally at peace and Yuuri returns to Earth to finish high school, taking Wolfram with him with plans to finally take charge of their relationship. But when an actress from the drama club recruits Yuuri for their next play, of course the only words Wolf hears are "girl asked" and "yes". What's a Maoh to do to prove his love? Make his angel join him on stage of course.

**Pairings**: Yuuri x Wolfram

**WARNINGS: Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned **

* * *

**Your Romeo, My Juliet**

**By V. Shalyr**

* * *

Chapter 1

"Er, excuse me?" Yuuri stared at the girl standing in front of his desk, not quite sure he had heard her correctly. The bell had just rung signaling the end of classes for the day and all around them, other students were chattering and putting away their books.

The girl—what was her name again? Haru, yes, he was pretty sure that was it—smiled a little nervously. She'd thought long and hard before deciding to approach the captain of the school's baseball team for this. It wasn't that he was scary or anything. Actually, Shibuya Yuuri had a reputation for being kind and standing up for people when they needed it. That was the main reason she'd chosen to approach him with her plea for help as opposed to some of the other more popular guys at school—despite the fact that he was also reputed to be a little…strange. She'd heard rumors that he had disappeared from school for several months awhile back and that he occasionally vanished without a trace, but no one in his family ever seemed to worry about this. It was never brought to the attention of the police, and when he returned, it was like he'd never been gone—except that something about Yuuri had changed over the course of these absences too. It wasn't anything anyone at school could put their fingers on, just something in the way he held himself, a certain confidence perhaps and surety. Some people on the baseball team even claimed that their captain always seemed to know when it was going to rain. To say the least, Haru had been intrigued.

"I'm from the drama club," she repeated. "We've kind of been having trouble getting funds. Our club budget's been cut by half and the school said we'd have to try and make up the difference with our performances. But you see, we really haven't been doing very well getting people interested and out to watch us. We were kind of hoping that you could help."

Yuuri frowned a little. The school had been having a few money issues lately. His baseball team had been lucky. The sport was popular and his team had quite a following so they didn't have to worry about financial pressures. But a lot of the other clubs and sports teams hadn't been so fortunate. Still, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not really sure what I can do."

The girl hesitated, fiddling with the strap of her book bag. "Well, um, we thought that it would work best if we could get some of the more popular students to perform with us."

Yuuri was starting to have a niggling suspicion about what she wanted. "So, are you asking me to act in your next performance?"

Haru beamed. "Something like that. We were hoping you'd agree to be the male lead."

Yuuri scratched the back of his head, looking a bit rueful and a bit apologetic. "I'm not sure. Honestly, I've never been in a play before."

Haru's face fell and her gaze dropped to the floor. She looked so dejected that Yuuri couldn't help feeling a little guilty. So maybe he'd never been part of a play, but he did act all the time nowadays. It was kind of part and parcel of being a king, or so he'd discovered. Good politics, it appeared, had a lot to do with being good at deception. Even if you were a kind ruler, you still had to develop at least a decent poker face if nothing else.

"Maybe I can give it a try," he said finally. "So what play did you guys have in mind?"

This was wonderful. Haru smiled gratefully, her brown eyes sparkling with renewed excitement. "Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet_."

.

To say Yuuri regretted agreeing to help would have been… Well, it wouldn't have been wrong _exactly_, but it wouldn't have been completely right either. It wasn't _helpin_g or the thought of being on stage that made him uneasy. It was the thought of having to explain it to a certain blond Mazoku who was waiting for him at home.

He just knew that his hot-tempered fiancé was going to take it the wrong way. The two of them had been living on Earth for a good few months now with occasional trips back to Shin Makoku and Wolfram had finally begun to adjust. With his parent's help, Yuuri had enrolled him in an art class and he was really getting quite good. It made Yuuri smile to remember how utterly pleased the blonde had been when Yuuri had gone to pick him up after his first lesson. He'd hauled Yuuri around the classroom completely ignoring the stares of the other students and showed him all the different art supplies and example projects. Of course, the double black was already familiar with most of these things, but he hadn't wanted to interrupt his companion's excitement by saying so. Instead, he just smiled and nodded and spent most of the time watching Wolfram himself.

The fire Mazoku really hadn't changed all that much over the years. Both Yuuri and Murata had several inches on him now, not that it stopped him from glaring or raging at them when he was upset. Yuuri hadn't really thought about it until that moment standing next to him in the art classroom, but he found himself rather glad about this seemingly insignificant detail. It made him feel more like they had a chance of starting over, that he could make up for the mistakes his younger self had made when it came to this particular relationship.

He wondered what his classmates would say if they knew Yuuri was now older than them by several years courtesy of the time difference between the kingdom he ruled and Earth.

The double black was pulled from his thoughts by the sight of his house—well, his parents' house really, but it was where they lived when they were on Earth. Murata had suggested that they buy their own apartment so as not to inconvenience Jennifer and her husband; it wasn't like Yuuri couldn't afford it. But his mother simply refused to hear of it and no one, absolutely no one, got in the way of Yuuri's mother and what she wanted—least of all her husband. Though Shibuya Shouma really didn't mind. Both of his sons might have been growing up, but that didn't mean he stopped worrying about them. That was just the kind of parent he was. Besides, two seeming teenagers living on their own would be too much cause for notice and undue comment.

It surprised him that no golden-haired angel came haring out to greet him. Wolfram had thrown a fit the first week when Yuuri had started going back to school. It had taken considerable effort to persuade him not to follow him to class. As it were, Wolfram still went to meet him after school now and then and people had seen and started talking. Frankly, Yuuri found that he didn't mind that part though. All he'd had to do was slip a word in here and there and now everyone at school thought he had a girlfriend. As the captain of the baseball team, Yuuri had become quite popular at school, and this meant that he didn't have to worry as much about girls vying for his attention. What he _didn'_t need was Wolfram storming into his school to terrorize the resident female population.

Of course, with this new development… Damn, Yuuri wasn't looking forward to having to tell him about it. But he had to tell him about it sooner or later because letting Wolfram find out on his own through someone else's garbled story would be far worse.

Locating Wolfram turned out to be a simple matter. He had his easel set up in the backyard, a brush in his hand and his teeth worrying at his lower lip while he stared intently at the canvas. The art teacher had gone over pastel, charcoal, watercolor, and oil paints thus far and Wolfram had taken to the last of these with great enthusiasm. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't notice Yuuri's arrival until the double black had wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and buried his nose in his soft golden locks.

Wolfram jumped a little and gasped, almost dropping his paintbrush. "Yuuri!"

"Hey," Yuuri greeted. He grinned when he felt the slender body relax against him and lean back against his chest. He was definitely starting to get used to this. "How was your day?"

Wolfram indicated his half finished painting with an irritated wave of his brush. "I've been working on this all morning but it just isn't right."

Yuuri glanced over the canvas, bemused. "Sorry that I can't help with that. It looks good to me. I don't really know too much about art."

"Obviously," Wolfram sniffed.

Yuuri chuckled and gave his middle a light squeeze. "Are you ready to go?"

Wolfram hesitated then nodded and Yuuri let him go so he could clean and put away his art supplies. He almost never asked where they were going anymore, just happy that his king honestly wanted to spend time with him. Time, time and attention. That was all Wolfram really wanted—needed—from him whereas Yuuri needed him to actually _tal_k to him and in turn listen to what the double black had to say. They were both working on it and Yuuri liked to believe that they'd made significant progress.

For the most part.

.

One of the first things Yuuri had done upon returning to Earth this time around was to get his driver's license. It was simply more convenient that way. Besides, the last time he'd taken Wolfram on public transportation, the blonde had broken someone's nose—and Yuuri had let him. Worse, the double black couldn't seem to dredge up any guilt over the matter. As far as he was concerned, that man shouldn't have tried to grope his fiancé. It wasn't Yuuri's fault if no one had warned him that the "pretty foreigner" came packaged with a volatile temper and a quick fist. Besides, if Wolfram hadn't punched the man, Yuuri might have, so the result would have been the same either way.

Aside from preventing another such accident from happening again, using a car had other advantages—like being more comfortable when Wolfram inevitably got carsick. It wasn't nearly as bad as when he got seasick, but that wasn't saying very much.

The moment Yuuri parked the car he was out the door, leaning against it and looking a bit green. He shut his eyes and concentrated on breathing in the fresh air. Riding in these wheeled, metallic vehicles always made him lament the lack of horses in this world. Yuuri had explained that it wasn't that they didn't have any. It was simply that people didn't use them as a means of transportation anymore. Rather, horse riding had become a sport, something people did for fun and recreational purposes.

Horses, after all, simply couldn't keep up with the speed of a car and required a lot more work to take care of.

Emerald eyes snapped open again when a hand grasped his and he looked up into Yuuri's smiling face. Wolfram would never admit it out loud but it made his heart race every time the double black looked at him like that, especially now that he knew it was for real. Honestly, he still thought sometimes that he was dreaming.

As he followed his king out of the parking lot, Wolfram noted with slight trepidation, "There are so many people."

"Yeah, I know. It seems this festival is pretty popular. The art teacher at my school said it's one of the biggest creative arts festivals of the year."

The fact that it was one of the few festivals with free admission probably didn't hurt the size of the crowd either. Yuuri thought it had been a smart move on the part of the hosts not to charge people for going in though, seeing as it gave people more money to spend once they actually got inside to be dazzled by the work all the various participating artists had to offer.

"There are artists from all over Japan here," Yuuri explained, accepting a map from one of the festival volunteers and glancing over it. "Is there anything in particular you're interested in? Basically, everything that's being sold here was handmade by the seller. There are supposed to be all sorts of unique pieces, and there's a gallery at the heart of it all too."

"What are those people doing?" Wolfram asked, pointing.

Following the direction of his curious stare, Yuuri grinned. "Hey, it looks like that guy's doing an origami demonstration."

"Origami?"

"I guess you could say it's the art of folding paper. You see those framed pictures he's got on the wall behind him? Everything in those frames was folded from pieces of paper."

As they drew closer to the stall, Yuuri gestured towards the strings of paper birds covering the left wall. "Those are paper cranes, just like the one he's showing that girl how to fold now. There's a story that says if you fold a thousand paper cranes, you can make a wish."

"And it's supposed to come true?"

"Well, that's the idea, yeah."

Wolfram considered this for a moment then tugged Yuuri closer to the table. Retrieving one of the colorful square pieces of origami paper from the stack the stall owner had put on the corner, he joined the girl where she was trying to fold her first paper crane. Technically, Yuuri already knew how to fold paper cranes, but he'd learned such a long time ago that he wasn't completely sure he remembered all the steps. And anyway, things were more fun when you weren't doing them by yourself, so he took another piece of paper and followed.

He wondered what it was Wolfram would wish for. And then he wondered what _h_e would wish for. Maybe it was strange but he honestly had no idea, though perhaps as a start, he'd wish that Wolfram would be calm and understanding when he told him about what had happened at school. Then again, Yuuri didn't think even the magic of a thousand cranes was _tha_t powerful.

By the time they left the festival, evening had fallen. Wolfram had taken quite a liking to origami and they'd bought several different packs of patterned paper as well as an instruction booklet so he could continue his collection at home.

They had dinner at a ramen place that Yuuri had started frequenting since he began high school. He'd made a point of having Wolfram try all different kinds of Earth foods, a large part of which consisted of different Japanese dishes all considered they were living in Japan. Wolfram was okay with most of it, with the one exception being the raw fish which it had taken half an hour of coaxing for the blonde to even try. Thankfully, they didn't run into any of Yuuri's classmates. The double black had enough on his mind as it was.

Back in the car on their way home, the double black had run out of excuses to delay the inevitable. He'd been trying to figure out how to relay the news and come up with a blank. It seemed he'd just have to be blunt and hope for the best.

"Listen, Wolf, I'm going to be a bit late after school tomorrow."

This caught Wolfram's attention right away and he jerked his head around to look at him. "Why?"

"Well," Yuuri started, drawing out the word as his mind raced, trying to figure out just what to say. "Someone from the drama club asked me for help with their next play and I said yes."

"Play?" Wolfram repeated, his brow furrowing. "What play?"

Damn, there just didn't seem to be any good way to explain this. "It's called _Romeo and Juliet_. It's a—ah—romantic tragedy written by a pretty famous English playwright."

"What kind of help did they want?" the blonde asked suspiciously after a moment of silence following this announcement.

Yuuri guided the car into the driveway and turned off the engine. The sudden silence felt oddly loud.

"Um, I'm going to be an actor. You see, the drama club hasn't been doing too well and they're hoping that since I'm the captain of the baseball team, if I play one of the main characters, maybe it will encourage more people to come and watch. They'll be holding auditions for the other characters in a few more days."

Yuuri could just sense his companion begin to bristle.

"You're going to be one of the main characters."

"Uh, yes?"

"And you said it's a romance story," Wolfram said flatly.

Nope, not good at all.

"Yeah…"

Yuuri waited for the inevitable explosion and he wasn't disappointed.

"It was a girl, wasn't it?" the blonde demanded, his eyes already flashing with the beginnings of jealousy and hurt anger.

Yuuri sighed. "Yes, it was, but that has nothing to do with this."

Wolfram said nothing but he didn't meet the double black's eyes either.

"They needed help," Yuuri pressed on. He couldn't just let the matter sit or it would fester and cause more future misunderstandings. Wolfram simply wasn't good at letting things go. "I was one of the only people she could think of to ask. What was I supposed to do?"

"Tell them you were busy or help them find somebody else," Wolfram grumbled but hunched a little more into the jacket he was still wearing.

The Mazoku's emerald green eyes were dark and Yuuri grimaced mentally. He'd had to work real hard to convince his fiancé that he was going to take their engagement seriously and that yes, he did in fact care. Not that he could really blame Wolfram for not believing him. It had taken him far too long to come to terms with his own feelings

It had been…painful to realize just how much you could hurt someone without knowing it. And it was even easier when the person you were hurting spent so much time hiding it behind anger and irritation. He hadn't understood the full impact of it until he'd taken the blonde out to dinner on Earth half a year ago and declared his intention to formally court him. There had been so much raw fear in those emerald green eyes that Yuuri had been shocked. It hadn't been the reaction he'd been hoping for or expecting, but it had been a revelation.

"_You don't mean it,_" had been the first words out of Wolfram's mouth as soon as he'd recovered enough from his own surprise. He'd had a stubborn set to his chin that Yuuri was all too familiar with, but there had also been something about the way he seemed to shrink back into his chair that showed just how uncertain and scared he was behind the angry front. Thinking back, Yuuri felt a little sick to realize how withdrawn the fire Mazoku had become around him in the months leading up to his confession. It hadn't been anything obvious, not exactly. Wolfram was too proud to admit—especially, perhaps, to himself—how fragile his heart really was. But now that Yuuri knew how to read the signs better, it was impossible to miss.

In the end, Yuuri was glad that he'd chosen to approach the matter of their relationship on Earth.

"_I don't want to accidentally offend him or something_," he'd reluctantly confessed to Murata of all people when he'd had the arrangements made for their trip. It wasn't like he had anyone else to talk to about these things. And even if the Great Sage could be a bit of an annoying pervert, he still gave good advice now and then.

"_Shibuya,"_ he'd said slowly, adjusting his glasses as he studied Yuuri's expression—a mixture of determination and anxiety, _"this is Lord von Bielefeld we're talking about, yes?"_

Yuuri had thought that was pretty obvious but he'd nodded all the same.

"_Then the only thing you need to worry about is how long he's been waiting for you to do something like this. The two of you have been engaged for what? Half a decade? More? That's a long time even for a Mazoku engagement. He must love you a great deal to have not asked you to release him from the engagement already. Do whatever you feel is best, but know that you probably have your work cut out for you." _

He hadn't outright told Yuuri that his fiancé had been hurt by how he'd handled their relationship over the past half a decade, but looking back, he'd definitely been hinting at it. Perhaps he'd felt that that was something the king had to figure out for himself.

And so Yuuri had delegated the necessary tasks to his other court officials and taken Wolfram to Earth. Regardless of how well he had settled into his role as Shin Makoku's king, he had still grown up on Earth and he knew better how to handle things like relationships in a setting where he was familiar. At least he wouldn't have to worry about what a proper date should look like, even if Murata was right and that didn't really matter. And, well… Maybe he'd sort of hoped that being on Earth and learning more about its customs would help Wolfram understand him a bit better too.

For the most part, the double black was pleased with the results. But this stupid play was threatening to undo all of his hard effort! It wasn't fair! Or—hold on a moment.

"Hey, Wolf, how would you feel about performing on stage? That way, you could come to the rehearsals with me."

Wolfram stopped scowling for a moment to consider this. "You mean join these auditions you talked about?"

"Yeah." Yuuri smiled encouragingly. "You could be my character's friend or something. He's got two important ones. Some of the actors even get swords for the fight scenes."

This fact didn't seem to interest his angel as much as Yuuri had hoped it would. Instead, Wolfram lifted his chin in a determined manner.

"You said this was a romance story," he said, that fact clearly not having stood a chance of escaping his attention. Wolfram had a very selective memory for some things. "Then I want to be whoever it is you're supposed to be in love with."

_I should have known_, Yuuri thought. But he felt compelled to remind him, "It's supposed to be a girl, Wolf. I don't think they'd agree to cast you in the part. I thought I explained about these things to you already."

Wolfram looked at him like he was an idiot. "You've already told people that I'm your girlfriend."

The double black blinked. "Yeah?"

He couldn't well tell them that he had a boyfriend or a fiancé. His school teachers might come knocking at his door. He looked far too young to be engaged by Earth standards, at least in this modern era.

Instead of explaining any more, Wolfram got out of the car and went in search of Jennifer. "Mama,"—she'd insisted that he call her that and he'd complied easily; the two of them got along uncannily well as far as Yuuri was concerned—"I need to borrow some clothes."

Or go shopping. They would have to see.

* * *

**TBC… **

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.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kyo Kara Maoh.

**Pairings**: Yuuri x Wolfram

**WARNINGS: Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned **

* * *

**Your Romeo, My Juliet**

**By V. Shalyr**

* * *

Chapter 2

Going shopping with his mother and Wolfram for girls' clothes that would suit said fiancé was, oddly enough when he really thought about it, not the weirdest thing Yuuri had ever done. It wasn't even all that embarrassing to tell the truth. And this was probably because he'd gone shopping with Wolfram and Jennifer for nightgowns the week before and that had been far, far worse. Wolfram had no shame in some things—he just didn't care what strangers thought of him, the only people whose opinions mattered to him were the people he cared about—and would come marching out of the dressing rooms in whatever to demand Yuuri's opinion. The shop assistants and other shoppers kept throwing them strange looks alternating between amusement and disapproval. They really looked a bit too young for this. At least shopping for daytime clothes came across as less inappropriate.

"What do you think about this one?" Wolfram asked, emerging from the changing rooms in a rather skimpy, dark crimson dress that showed off his legs and clung to all the right places. Yuuri choked. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed his fiancé and hauled him hurriedly back inside.

"Mom! He is _no_t going to school in that!"

"Aw, but why not? Wolf-chan looks so beautiful in it! Didn't you notice?"

Of course he'd noticed! What kind of question was that?

"That's not the point!"

"You don't like it?" Wolfram asked, pouting a little as he examined his reflection in the dressing room mirror again. Of course, red wasn't one of his favorite colors, but he'd thought it fit him reasonably well.

"I didn't say that." The double black sighed and rubbed his temples. His eyes couldn't help but wander back down the blonde's slender figure and he blushed, tearing his gaze away to glare at his mother. "We're not going to a party, Mom. We're going to _my school_!"

And even if it was a party, Yuuri wasn't sure he wanted other people to see Wolfram in—in _that_. For some reason, imagining it made a rather unpleasant feeling well up in his chest that he wasn't all that used to.

Jennifer tapped her chin, scrutinizing the outfit thoughtfully. "I guess maybe it is a bit too much for school. Wolf-chan, how about trying this one?"

She held up a different outfit and Yuuri beat a hasty retreat before Wolfram could start undressing. He had more important things to worry about right now than what his fiancé was wearing. He had to find a way to get Wolfram into the auditions first, not to mention onto the acting staff. This was going to be a very busy few days.

.

"I'm so glad you actually came!" Haru exclaimed, jumping off the theatre stage to meet them as Yuuri came down the aisle amidst the seats with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "We were just making the final plans for the auditions in a few days. Since it's going to be for your costar, we were really hoping you could be there."

"Er, yeah, about that," Yuuri said, clearing his throat. "Is—is it okay for someone from another school to join the auditions? My, uh, girlfriend would really like to try out."

"Your girlfriend?" Haru blinked and the chatter amidst the other present club members died down as people strained to hear their conversation. They'd all heard the rumors that the captain of the baseball team had a foreign girlfriend, but Haru had never been much of a gossip and had never considered that the rumors might be true. This was certainly an unexpected if interesting development.

"I guess I don't see why not," she said slowly, glancing around to make sure no one was going to object to her decision. It seemed that everyone was curious.

"Great," Yuuri grinned, relieved. Step one successful! And he'd had this whole argument planned in case he needed to convince them to come around to his point of view. Oh well, better safe than sorry. Being prepared with backup plans like that was part and parcel of being a king, especially when he conducted as many negotiations as he did. Peace hinged a lot on words and understanding. "So what time did you guys want to hold the audition?"

"That's actually what we wanted to talk with you about," a boy with a clipboard said, crouching down on the edge of the stage next to them. "I'm not familiar with when baseball practice happens. Would this Thursday after school work for you?"

.

Wolfram looked up as Yuuri sat down on the couch next to him and pressed a book into his hands. "Okay, Wolf, they've agreed to let you audition. But that means we need to get you updated on the story. All the other candidates will most likely already know it since we were forced to read it for class. For the audition, you'll have to perform a short section from the play—one of Juliet's early scenes."

Wolfram glanced at the text and his forehead wrinkled. "That sounds weird. And I have to say this?"

"If you want to be in the play then yes." Yuuri shrugged. "I know it might sound a little strange to you, but that's how people were back when this was written—well, how people were in plays anyway. Don't worry. When people actually perform, they don't tend to say it exactly the same way. But this is for the sake of the audition."

Wolfram pouted but made no further objections.

Satisfied that his fiancé understood, Yuuri went over to the television and searched through the stuff he'd piled next to it until he found the DVD he'd been looking for. "I borrowed a copy of one of the more recent renditions of the play so you could see how people do this. It's kind of long, so let's just go through the first part for now and then focus on the scene you're going to have to perform. Good thing they don't want a lot of lines."

It had been the best strategy he could come up with to help Wolfram catch up with the people he was going to be competing with. Plays were really meant to be watched and listened to, not read. Those were two completely different experiences and Yuuri had seen enough movies and shows about the making of them to know that it wasn't as easy as just understanding the words.

On the bright side, when it came to emotions, Wolfram was more than capable of putting it all out there.

Still sitting on the couch waiting, Wolfram flipped idly through the pages. Yuuri had explained the overall plot to him earlier. Pausing on one page, he scowled, though it was more of a contemplative expression than an angry one. "So this Romeo character was a cheater too. He only just said he loved a different woman at the start of the play."

Yuuri blinked then frowned. "Hey! I told you already, I'm not a cheater!"

Wolfram had gotten better about not throwing baseless accusations at him all the time, but they still seemed to have this conversation every other week. Honestly, it was starting to get frustrating—not that it hadn't already been frustrating before, he supposed, but still.

Wolfram grumbled something incoherent under his breath then averted his eyes guiltily. Apparently, Yuuri wasn't the only one who remembered their conversations. "I'm… sorry."

This was such a shock that Yuuri turned all the way around to stare at him and make sure he hadn't imagined it. Had Wolfram just _apologize_d to him?

The blonde suddenly seemed to find the couch cushions utterly fascinating, picking at the seams with his fingers. "You've been really good about me wanting to be in the play. And… you're doing all this to try to help me…"

He waved towards the television without looking up.

And because he didn't look up, he failed to see the gentle smile that settled onto the double black's face. Pushing the DVD into the player, Yuuri grabbed the remote and went back to join his fiancé on the couch. Slipping one arm around the blonde's slim waist, he pulled him against his side and leaned down to press a kiss to Wolfram's temple. The Mazoku's cheeks turned a pleasant, faint pink and he rested his head against Yuuri's shoulder.

The double black had been a little hesitant the first time he'd actually kissed his fiancé after the whole coming to Earth and confessions thing. But somehow, seeing Wolfram blush had gotten rid of any embarrassment Yuuri thought he would have felt at such public displays of affection. Maybe he was spending too much time with Murata, but his fiancé really was too cute when he blushed.

"That's because I want you to get the part too. Now, let's get started. We've got a lot of work to do."

.

The entire theatre was in chaos. Haru surveyed the crowd milling about the plush, auditorium seats with a mixture of excitement, glee, and exasperation. Half of the people had turned out for the auditions while the other half had come to catch a glimpse of the baseball team captain's elusive, foreign girlfriend. How the word had gotten out she had no idea, but that was gossip for you, spreading like wildfire with no regard for truth or inconvenience.

"You know," Takeshi mused, joining her beside the red velvet curtains, "maybe someone should go outside and see if they can catch Shibuya and his girl before they walk into…_this_."

He gestured emphatically at the crowd. At this rate, just getting close to the stage for the two would be like trying to cross the Red Sea without Moses.

Haru nodded. "I'll go. You guys still have some last minute preparations to see to."

And not a moment too soon. She had only just arrived outside when she spotted a familiar, dark-haired young man heading towards her with a second, smaller figure trailing after him.

"Shibuya-san, over here! The auditorium's pretty crowded so we thought it would be best if we got you two in through the back."

"That's fine." Yuuri smiled and turned, slipping an arm around his companion's waist to urge "her" forward. "This is Wolfram von Bielefeld. She's, ah, from Germany."

At least he thought the Mazoku tongue sounded a bit like German. Luckily, to his knowledge, there weren't any students in his school who spoke German to prove him wrong.

Finally getting a good look at her, Haru almost dropped her clipboard. Wow, she'd known the girl was foreign but she hadn't expected golden hair and green eyes to be quite so stunning. On this person, the combination seemed almost angelic.

_Well_, Haru mused, if she got the part, she would certainly help bring in the crowds. This could definitely work. Not to mention she knew a good dozen people at least who had been dying to know just who it was had stolen the attention of their favorite sports team captain. Some of them hadn't made it today, but the crowd in the theatre right now was proof enough.

Smiling brightly, she held out her hand. "Hi! My name's Tanaka Haru and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Wolfram accepted the hand gingerly and shook it. If he remembered correctly, Yuuri had said that in this country, you tended to address people with their last names and they gave their last names before their first ones. Ugh, why did customs have to be so complicatedly different everywhere? "It's nice to meet you too, Tanaka-san."

Haru beamed and mentally rubbed her hands together. This was going to be so exciting! It felt like for the first time in way too long, they were finally getting somewhere.

"Come on, I'll lead the way. And welcome to our school, Bielefeld-san. I know you haven't been around much, but I hope you like it here. Please feel free to ask me if you need anything."

Wolfram surveyed their surroundings with open curiosity as they followed the girl around to the back door of the building that contained the school's auditorium. He'd visited Yuuri's school before, but only on brief occasions. There didn't seem to be anything particularly unusual or spectacular about it as far as he could see, not that he'd really expected anything different. So this was a "high school", huh? He couldn't see why Yuuri wanted to come here everyday. He could get a perfectly good education back in Shin Makoku—the best really, being the king.

It took a moment for people to realize that the metaphorical "guests of honor" had arrived. Whispers, squeals, and giggles swept through the rows of seats and the people farther in the back stood up to try and see. Wolfram being Wolfram, however, either ignored or failed to notice the attention he was attracting, zeroing in instead on the crowd of girls near the stage who were talking behind their hands and casting looks at his fiancé. Wolfram glared at them and immediately attached himself to Yuuri's side.

Yuuri was still holding the blonde's hand and he gave it a reassuring squeeze, hoping to calm him down. It worked at least a little and Wolfram settled down to listen as Haru vaulted onto the stage.

She clapped her hands and waved for everyone's attention. "The auditions are going to start in five minutes, so please get ready."

Hopping back down into the walkway, she gestured at Wolfram. "Could you please go wait over there with the other girls?"

Reluctantly, Wolfram nodded and moved across to the other section of seats while Yuuri sat down to watch. The double black felt almost just as nervous as Wolfram. He'd been utterly truthful when he'd told the blonde that he wanted him to get the part. So maybe this hadn't been his idea to begin with, but when he'd taken a moment to really think about it, he honestly couldn't imagine going through all those scenes with someone else.

If he was honest with himself, Wolfram had always been on his mind a lot. The fiery blond Mazoku tended to be extremely emotional and provoked a lot of emotions in return from the people around him. It had just taken a long time for him to sort out just what those emotions were.

A couple months before their return to Earth, Murata had caught Yuuri watching Wolfram accompanying Greta down in the gardens through the window of the Maoh's study. He'd given his friend that disturbingly knowing look of his and asked, "_Enjoying the view?_"

Yuuri had jumped at the interruption and given his paperwork a rather guilty look. _"What are you talking about?" _

The Sage had simply rolled his eyes, not fooled one bit. _"I'm talking about Lord Wolfram, obviously. You can't honestly expect me to believe that you've had someone as attractive as Lord von Bielefeld sleeping in your bed for more than five years and you never once thought about what it might be like to take him. You're a healthy young man. Let's be logical here." _

Yuuri flushed a little but didn't deny it, which made Murata raise his eyebrows. A few years ago, the Maoh would probably have gone into a spluttering, embarrassed tirade at such a comment. "_So are you finally going to do something about your engagement?" _

Yuuri had simply sighed, sagging back into his armchair. _What was he going to do? "I… don't know." _

And somehow, that answer had made Murata frown—really frown. He supposed the Sage had watched his and Wolfram's relationship for so long that in some ways, he perhaps knew them better than they did. He watched and he understood things in ways that the Maoh and his fiancé did not or could not because there were some things that you had to be a thousand-year-old sage to understand.

"_He's yours. He's been yours since the moment he fell in love with you—more so because you are his king. That means it's your job to take care of him." _

"_But he doesn't really need me to take care of him." _

"_Don't be an idiot, Shibuya. Everyone needs someone to take care of them. And if anything, Lord Wolfram is more high maintenance than most. If that's the way you think then no wonder you've been doing such a poor job." _

The Sage had let out an exasperated sigh and changed the tone of his voice before continuing. _"Fine, let's talk about this with language you understand better. Who do you picture yourself spending the rest of your life with? How would you feel if he left? If you lost him?" _

_Yuuri's hand had clenched under the table at that, his mind flashing back to when the blonde had almost died, courtesy of Shinou. It wasn't a memory he was fond of revisiting. _

"_Do you love him? Think about the question before you answer it, Shibuya." _

_Love, engagements, marriage—Yuuri had thought that he was too young to be thinking about such things before. But he was twenty-one now, even if he still looked only about eighteen at most. Youth wasn't an excuse anymore. And a little more than half a decade ruling a country had taught him a couple things about facing the truth and making his own decisions. _

"…_Yes." A shake of the head as though to clear it, a flash of determination in obsidian eyes, "yes, I do." _

"_Then for heaven's sake do something about it. He would do anything for you. Do you know how lucky you are to have someone love you like that?" _

And it had been strange really to realize that, as much as Yuuri now knew about taking care of a country, he really didn't know all that much about caring for a person. Of course he knew the basics of how it was supposed to _work_. But knowing and putting things into practice wasn't always the same thing. The problem with Wolfram was that Yuuri was always afraid he'd make some terrible mistake. And the blonde really didn't help matters with all his complaints and calling him a wimp all the time, even if the insult turned nickname had more or less stopped bothering him a long time ago.

"_You're thinking too much about it,_" Conrad had told him seriously when Yuuri had hesitantly consulted his godfather for advice. "_Just be yourself. My little brother loves you for who you are. I don't think you would have won him over so easily if you had been any different_." Then he'd paused and added, "_Please… be careful with him." _

Because much as Conrad respected and cared for his king, Wolfram was his baby brother and he didn't like to see him hurt.

That had been helpful but also a little sobering. Had everyone known how much Wolfram genuinely loved him except him?

Yuuri's thoughts were interrupted as the first girl was called on stage to give her rendition of the selected passage from the script. She was so nervous she was visibly shaking and Yuuri couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. If just auditioning made her this uncomfortable, he couldn't imagine that actually having to perform for real in front of a full audience would do her nerves any good. She looked utterly relieved when she finished that Haru gave her a soothing pat on the back as she made her way down the steps back to her seat.

Four students later and it was Wolfram's turn. Was it wrong of him to be relieved that so far, none of them had given a performance that Yuuri thought the blonde couldn't outdo?

"That's not _reall_y your girlfriend, is it?"

Yuuri frowned at the rude tone of the question, glancing up at the girl who had come to stand in front of him. He recognized her from his class but couldn't quite remember her name.

"As a matter of fact, _sh_e is."

The girl pursed her lips, folding her arms across her chest. "I suppose she _i_s pretty," she conceded, "but I'd be careful if I were you. You never know what these foreign girls actually _want_. Especially the pretty ones."

Yuuri wasn't sure what she was trying to insinuate, but the tone of her voice made him bristle. Aside from that, despite his looks, Wolfram was one of the least vain people Yuuri knew.

"Don't say things like that when you don't even know hi—her," he snapped, catching himself on the last word. Damn, this was going to take some getting used to after all.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, not sounding apologetic at all as she took a step closer to him. "I was only trying to look out for you. I didn't mean to make you angry."

"Who I choose to date is none of your business," the double black said evenly, adopting the cool tone he'd learned to use during political discussions where the other side was being particularly unpleasant. Due to her interference, he hadn't been able to really listen to Wolfram's performance, but at least he could tell that the blonde hadn't forgotten any of the words and there didn't seem to have been any unplanned pauses in his monologue.

Yuuri silently thanked Shinou that Wolfram hadn't spotted the girl until after he'd finished his lines because his emerald green eyes instantly turned murderous and Yuuri didn't think murderous was Juliet's best look in the middle of a romantic contemplation. Not bothering to wait for the applause to finish, the blonde marched off the stage towards the front row of seats, shoved said girl aside none too gently, and seated himself rather pointedly in Yuuri's lap.

The girl scowled, spinning on her heel and leaving without another word. Wolfram watched her go with satisfaction before what he'd just done finally clicked in his head and he tensed, looking worriedly at Yuuri for his reaction. They had talked about his impulsive, jealousy-led behavior before, and the double black had managed—with great effort—to impress upon him that it could cause problems. He relaxed again when Yuuri just smiled and slipped an arm around his back to support him. The double black thought he saw a faint blush color the other's cheeks before Wolfram cautiously rested his head against Yuuri's shoulder.

They watched the rest of the auditions like that.

.

"Shibuya-san, do you have a minute?"

Yuuri had been dreading this moment all morning. Pausing in the hallway, he turned to face Haru and managed a smile in greeting. "What is it?"

"Okay, so here's the thing," Haru said, cutting straight to the point. Luckily, the corridor was mostly empty so they could talk without disturbing anyone. "Technically, this girl from the junior class gave the best performance during the audition."

Yuuri's heart sank. He'd been afraid of that.

"But," she continued and Yuuri held his breath, "I know her and she's a right pain to work with. So I'm hoping to push the others into going for Wolfram. But I just wanted to make sure, seeing as I don't know her that well yet..." She trailed off, embarrassed. "I know that's a weird question to ask someone's boyfriend, but there isn't anyone else around here who knows her, so…"

"She has something of a temper, but she's really sweet once she warms up to you," Yuuri said honestly, "and I can assure you she's really responsible."

"Great." Haru sighed in relief. "Then I can almost assure you that she's got the part. I know Takeshi liked her and I'm pretty sure the others will come around easily. But I'll let you know for sure by the end of the day."

.

From the moment his king had left for school, Wolfram had been unable to calm down. He paced about the house in a state of restless agitation until Jennifer recruited him to help her with meal preparations in the kitchen. Learning to cook from "Mama" had proved surprisingly fun when he and Yuuri had first arrived to begin their extended stay on Earth and Wolfram had become quite an accomplished cook—at least after he'd finally mastered the use of the oven, stove, and microwave. Earth technology could be so confusing sometimes.

"You shouldn't look so distressed," Jennifer said, pulling him back from his thoughts as she stirred the bubbling liquid in the pot she was hovering over. "I'm sure everything will work out just fine. Yuu-chan will make sure of it."

"Will he?"

"Of course he will. You do believe in him, don't you?"

Wolfram nodded. He had grown to believe in Yuuri as a king a long time ago. But as a fiancé? That was something they were still working on. They'd made significant progress and he so _wante_d to believe, but at the same time, the more he wanted to believe, the more afraid he was of just letting it happen. It made Wolfram feel a little guilty too because he knew Yuuri was trying so hard.

"Let me tell you something," Jennifer said conspiratorily, accepting the bowl of eggs Wolfram had beaten for her and adding it to what now appeared to be some kind of noodle. "The men in this family can be very silly sometimes, but they always pull through when it matters. Now, could you please help Mama put together that sauce I showed you how to make last week?"

Wolfram knew she was right. But he also knew that in this particular case, Yuuri only had so much say in the matter.

"I'm home!"

As soon as he heard the double black's voice, Wolfram was out of the kitchen and through the living room to the front door where Yuuri was just taking off his shoes.

"So?" he demanded, green eyes fixed on Yuuri full of anxiety disguised for the most part as impatient irritation.

Yuuri paused for dramatic effect then grinned. "You made it."

* * *

**TBC… **

* * *

.


End file.
